Weston Traffic Committee reviews Route 20, Route 30 projects with no funding votes taken

WESTON -- January 25, 2023, Weston's Traffic and Sidewalk Committee advanced several road and sidewalk projects at its January 25 meeting but took no funding votes. Chair Jay Doyle pressed town staff to obtain a substantive update from engineering firm VHB on the Route 20 at Highland Street alternatives analysis, noting the town has committed more than $425,000 for that design and that three months had passed since the last presentation of alternatives. On Route 20 at Wellesley Street, the committee is awaiting cost estimates from firm BHB for survey work needed to close a roughly 400- to 500-foot sidewalk gap before any committee funding action. The 3.7-mile Route 30 corridor reconstruction, advancing from 25 percent to 75 percent design following four site walks, drew sustained public pushback from a resident who argued the planned bidirectional shared-use path poses unacceptable danger at driveway crossings, a concern Doyle said the designer is working to address within the final design. The Ash Street sidewalk project is headed to a May Town Meeting warrant article for construction funding, with the Select Board having already expressed support and a potential construction start of July.